DAVID KIRBY: FEVER, VACCINES AND "MITOCHONDRIAL AUTISM"

By David Kirby

When the US Government conceded that vaccines had contributed to the development of autism in nine-year-old Hannah Poling, there was much speculation about what could trigger autistic regression in children with low cellular energy from mitochondrial dysfunction.

Many experts who oppose the idea that vaccines could be linked to autism – including those at the CDC - first suggested that a single-point mutation in Hannah’s mitochondrial DNA, inherited from her mother, was the actual underlying cause of her neurological problems.

The vaccines, they said, only made a bad situation worse. Many went so far as to insist that Hannah’s precarious genetic situation would have deteriorated into “features of autism” anyway - with or without the vaccines.

But that explanation fell apart: Hannah’s mother has the exact same mitochondrial mutation, and yet she never developed any neuro-psychological disorders. Moreover, Hannah does not have “classic” mitochondrial disease – a rare, inherited, and usually very serious disorder.

Instead, Hannah had a moderate dysfunction of her mitochondria, one that was so mild and asymptomatic that it went undetected – and apparently undisturbed – until July 19, 2000, when she received nine vaccinations at once.

The rest is medical history.

The government stated in its second concession statement in February, (in which her epilepsy was also determined to be vaccine-related), that the “cause” of Hannah’s “autistic encephalopathy” was:

“Underlying mitochondrial dysfunction, exacerbated by vaccine-induced
fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves.”

Many people jumped on the “vaccine induced fever” part of that sentence, and they are still running with it. Some have inferred that it is a well known fact that children with disorders of their mitochondria can readily regress into autistic encephalopathy – if they encounter any number of infant febrile infections.

This idea was supported by one of the experts on mitochondrial dysfunction and autism that I interviewed, who has studied 30 children with regressive ASD at the same clinic. He discovered that all 30 patients have the same markers for mild mitochondrial dysfunction: in this case, slightly abnormal levels or ratios of the same amino acids and liver enzymes.

One of the 30 children was Hannah Poling.

This doctor told me that, of the 30 regressive autism cases, only two -- Hannah and one other child – or 6 percent of the total, had received any vaccines within 7 days of the first sign of encephalopathy. The rest, he said, regressed because of fevers unrelated to immunization – a contention that is sure to be challenged when these data are made public..

The researcher said that children with mitochondrial dysfunction have a particularly pronounced window of vulnerability during the time when language skills are usually developing – between one and two years of age. They are, in essence, little walking, ticking time bombs: Anything that stressed their relatively fragile systems, including fever or vaccines, could push them over the edge and into ASD.

For this reason, doctors such as Paul Offit of Philadelphia say that children with mitochondrial problems should be quickly vaccinated against any disease that could cause a fever and overtax their systems.

Some estimates of the percentage of ASD children who also have mitochondrial dysfunction put the number at about 20% - though this very preliminary figure needs to be thoroughly studied. 

But if 20% of ASD kids have a mito disorder, and six percent of those kids regressed due to vaccines, then just 1% of all autism could be attributed to vaccine induced “mitochondrial regression.”

If 1% of all autism cases were actually vaccine-induced mitochondrial regression, this would suggest that another 19% of ASD cases may be mitochondrial regression induced by fever alone.

Estimates of US autism cases vary wildly, but, for argument’s sake let’s say it’s a million people (many will argue that it’s far lower than that). That would mean some 190,000 Americans with mito issues who, after normal births and development, suddenly stopped talking and regressed into autism following some kind of childhood fever.

That may be the case, but then a number of questions are left wanting for an answer.

To begin with, I have confirmed that Hannah – who was sick several times in her first year or so of life, to the extent that her parents delayed some of her vaccines – suffered a number of high fevers several times before July 19, 2000 (a day when her doctor pronounced her a picture of neurological health, by the way).

Hannah was precocious, and began forming words at nine months of age, and quickly developed a vocabulary after that, despite the fact that she had a number of subsequent fevers, including one at 13 months of age.

So my first question is: If non-vaccine related fevers could have triggered her regression, why didn’t they? Why did Hannah continue to develop language following several fevers, right up until her vaccination date in July, 2000?

The idea that millions of children each year suddenly develop autism following some routine fever, and that this has been going on for hundreds or thousands of years, also raises many interesting questions.

If that is the case, then why is there little mention in the literature – medical or otherwise – of normally developing children who developed a fever and, soon after that, stopped talking and developed features of autism?

Doesn’t it seem likely that such a disorder would have been given a name during all those years, perhaps even a folksy one, such as, say, “Mute Fever” (much like some Africans used to call AIDS “Slims Disease”)?

And speaking of Africa and other developing nations, wouldn’t this tragic phenomenon be a common, everyday part of life throughout the world? And wouldn’t the documented rate of regressive autism be far higher in countries where childhood illnesses are much more endemic than in places like the United States? (Perhaps they are, but there is no evidence of this).

Moreover, shouldn’t we have seen a steady decline in reported ASD cases over the years in America, as increased vaccination, improved sanitation and wider access to medical care reduced the occurrence of at least some fever inducing infections?

I have also learned that Hannah has suffered from extensive bouts of fever ever since her autism diagnosis. Like with many ASD kids, her symptoms actually improve remarkably during these episodes, and when they happen, she seems to temporarily “come of her cloud.”

This temporary improvement was documented in the December, 2007 issue of Pediatrics in a study titled, “Fever May Briefly Alleviate Autism Symptoms.” The authors reported that, out of 30 ASD children observed before and after a 100.4 degree fever, more than 80% showed some improvement in behavior and other signs, and 30% showed “significant improvement.” Changes included longer concentration span, increased amount of talking and improved eye contact.

So my next question is: Hannah did not regress from fevers prior to 19 months of age and, after that point, fevers made her ASD symptoms actually improve – But wouldn’t her ASD symptoms be expected to deteriorate further, rather than improve temporarily?

Still other questions arise from the government’s move, which conceded that Hannah’s autism was, "caused by vaccine induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves."
 
There are at least two ways of interpreting this statement:
 
1) Hannah’s vaccines induced a fever, which IN TURN caused immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves.
 
OR
 
2) Hannah’s vaccines induced a fever, AND ALSO caused immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves.

It's an important distinction.

In Hannah’s case, it is not at all clear that vaccine-induced fever, alone, would have caused an immune stimulation that “exceeded metabolic reserves.”

Isn’t it reasonable to ask if the immune stimulation that exceeded reserves was induced directly by the nine vaccine antigens, three live viruses, 50 micrograms of ethylmercury and many times more of aluminum (which is added to vaccines precisely in order to stimulate the immune system) given to her simultaneously?

In other words, were two separate biological events happening at the same time: Vaccine-induced fever AND vaccine-induced immune stimulation?

I know of several regressive ASD cases with documented diagnoses of mito dysfunction, but no fevers present during the period around the onset of encephalopathy. What happened in these cases? Is it possible that “vaccine-induced immune stimulation” alone could have triggered their regression, even without fever?

That will be the theory that is tested in the Krakow case, which was initially chosen to replace Hannah Poling as the first test case of the thimerosal causation theory. It turns out the Krakow boy tested positive for many of the same mitochondrial markers as Hannah, and he was promptly withdrawn as a thimerosal test case.

In this boy, the signs of autistic regression began after receiving a thimerosal containing vaccine, though no sign of fever was noted at the time. A month later, the child received a second mercury-containing shot and, once again, showed further (and more serious) signs of regressive encephalopathy – again without the involvement of any fever.

But do these mito children who regressed after vaccines, but not fever, really comprise just 1% of all autism cases in the country? The answer is we don’t know.

But even CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding has hinted that fever alone may not always be enough to trigger “ mitochondrial regression. On March 29, she told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta that, “If a child was immunized, got a fever, had other complications from the vaccines, and was pre-disposed with the mitochondrial disorder, it can certainly set off some damage (including) symptoms that have characteristics of autism.”

Dr. Gerberding  needs to tell us exactly what kind of “other complications from the vaccines” befell Hannah just before she regressed..

Meanwhile, we need to find out how many more Hannah Polings are still out there, waiting to be counted.

David Kirby is a journalist, the author of Evidence of Harm and a Huffington Post blogger. Be sure to read his HuffPo pieces and their incredible comment trails HERE.

Comments

[PS]

Check out this study: "Fever Plus Mitochondrial Disease Could Be Risk Factors for Autistic Regression"
http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/429

[A]

Jim Witte wrote "With respect to fevers and perhaps other infections causing improvement, this may create a "diversion" of the immune system, and suspend it's attack on or interference with the brain. I believe I read that fevers and infections also create improvement in some autoimmune disorders temporarily."

Yes, I have read about this WRT to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome here http://www.davidsbell.com/Faces_of_CFS.pdf
read the part about poison ivy making the CFS fatigue go away temporarily.

I have CFS and Aspergers. I have mitochondrial dysfunction as shown on this blood test. http://www.ijcem.com/files/IJCEM812001.pdf
see page 11 for graph
CFS and autism seem to be very strongly connected.

[Eunice Monyei-Okenwa]

My 9year old son was perfectly normal until july 26th after bumping his head playing at the park.I have done every blood work known to doctors,everything came negetive my son is functioning at the level of a 3year old.Recently his brain mri came back with abnormal white matters nobody seem to understand what is going on with him.this is been going on for almost7months.

[Lawrence]

Mr. Kirby,

Thank you for following this story. You may have opened up a new Pandora's Box here.

Where the issue of fever in autism is concerned, the 600-pound gorilla in the room may be the virus HHV-6, a virus that seems to have emerged as an epidemic at the same time that the autism statistics started to explode.

Here's a snapshot of HHV-6 from the HHV-6 Foundation's site: "HHV-6, a beta herpesvirus in the same family as cytomegalovirus, was discovered in 1986 in AIDS patients with cancer and lymphoproliferative disorders. It infects close to 100% of children by the age of two, causing mild flu-like symptoms in some, but in some cases proceeds to serious rash, high fever, encephalitis and seizures. A surprisingly high percentage of pediatric emergency room visits are due to primary HHV-6 infections. In some areas as many as 13% of infants with acute HHV-6 infections develop seizures and other manifestations of encephalitis. The virus can persist in the CNS. In most cases, the virus goes into latency; however, in patients with impaired immune function, the virus persists in its active state at low levels for years."

When the HHV-6 discoverer, Robert Gallo, suggested that HHV-6 was the critical co-factor in AIDS, the idea was quickly dismissed in the late 80s because the virus seemed to be ubiquitous. But research since then has shown that activated HHV-6A is a significant issue in the progression of AIDS. It has also been linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, AIDS, MS, cancer, cardiac problems and, if you read Kent Heckenlively's HHV-6 posts on this site, it may also be a key to autism.

Given that HHV-6 has been linked to CFS which is partly a condition of "low cellular energy from mitochondrial dysfunction," one has to ask if Hannah had a HHV-6 infection that was exacerbated by the vaccine. The silent epidemic of activated HHV-6A may be the key to a number of neurological problems in children for the last two decades.

I hope you will look into the link between HHV-6 and autism. A conference on HHV-6 will begin in Baltimore on June 19. It is hosted by Dr. Robert Gallo, the so-called discover of HIV.

You have raised international awareness about vaccines and autism. It would be great if you could do the same for HHV-6 and autism.

It may turn out that physicians need to control HHV-6 if and when it is exacerbated or activated by vaccines. They may need to treat it more aggressively even if vaccines are not involved.

[LJ]

doodle, I must admit my initial comment was only aimed at correcting the statement from Mr. Kirby that I quoted, without even a glance to the "study" you're referring to. However, I absolutely agree with you that if there are no methods available, the data is impossible to accurately interpret!

Mr. Kirby, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I don't believe that in the time you say you spent in the places you listed you never encountered a single autistic child. You may not have been aware of it and you may not have encountered anyone that was severely autistic. That doesn't mean they aren't there.

Different cultures and societies have different ways of handling mental illnesses and developmental disorders. It wasn't so long ago that we in the US were institutionalizing and even lobotomizing a large number of people that we would now try to integrate into our society. Remember that when you imply that because you don't see them they're not there.

[Fever means something]

My 9 year old son with ASD has NOT had a fever since "developing" autism at 15 months. Some minor fevers before ASD but NONE after. What does that mean?! As a matter of fact, he runs a very low body temperature all the time.

[David Kirby]

“I think that ***if ****the child mortality rate is significantly higher (e.g. in third world countries or several decades ago), then the chances of a child surviving to be diagnosed with an ASD is less likely. This results in both lower percentages and absolute numbers.”

LJ:

I wonder how much time you have spent in poor countries? I lived in Southern Africa, Mexico and Central American for a number of years, mostly as a reporter (during which time, mostly the 80s, I NEVER heard about a single case of autism - I reported on malaria, cholera, TB, respiratory infections, asthma (in Mexico City), dengue, malnutrition, HIV, and other Third World health problems, I spent a lot of time with doctors at hospitals and health centers in big cities and small villages, and I never came across a SINGLE case of autism).

In areas with high child mortality rates, most people simply have more children. The populations of developing countries, on balance, have been growing faster that Europe and N America for many decades.

[doodle]

LJ,

Sure, your point is taken. No problems with that.

But I think you are using your point to examine the information (not even an abstract) at face value and trying to say how it could be possible that 28 out of 30 kids with mito dysfunction regressed just because they became ill and got a fever. Maybe you are just being hypothetical, but my point is "no methods section - no dismissing vaccine connections". Sure it it possible that kids could catch virus, get a fever, and then regress, but it doesn't pass the common sense test because that would have been documented and have happened from every childhood illness. It can be examined more closely though, and probably will.

[LJ]

Kelli, so now you see my point about historical speculation? And doodle, I never brought up anything about adverse reactions to vaccines or how doctors handle them. That's not the point I was trying to make. The point is that an immune response is complex and that a fever is never just a fever. A fever is a result of immune stimulation, not a cause of said stimulation.

[Twyla]

LJ -
I grew up at a time when all the kids I knew -- including myself and my brothers, neighbors, classmates, etc. -- came down with measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, german measles, flu, and whooping cough. We got fevers from these illnesses as well as from strep throat and other common viruses and infections. And until just a few years ago most kids came down with chicken pox. I don't know anyone who became autistic following fever from a naturally occurring illness. And the explanation for no autism is not death, because I don't know anyone who died of these illnesses either.

These illnesses (and the resulting fevers) have drastically decreased because of vaccines, while the autism rate has drastically increased.

I read many many credible accounts of children becoming autistic after vaccines, but none about children becoming autistic after illnesses. Maybe this can happen in some rare situations, but it's quite hard to believe that naturally occurring illnesses with fever contribute significantly to the rate of autism.

It's speculative, nonsensical, and without any factual foundation to say, "Well, if some kids become autistic from the vaccines, probably even more kids would have become autistic from the illnesses."

As far as 7 days, there's no magic dividing line. For example, regarding adverse vaccine reactions in animals, Dr. Jean Dodd said, "The onset of adverse reactions to conventional vaccinations... can be an immediate hypersensitivity or anaphylactic reaction, or can occur acutely (24-48 hours afterwards), or later on (10-45 days) in a delayed type immune response often caused by immunecomplex formation."